Sooner or Later
by Hiei'sRedRose
Summary: Takes place during Half Blood Prince. During the school year, Malfoy is faced with a difficult task. A task no one as young as him should have to fulfill. But with the help of Myrtle, Malfoy can work through this difficult and possibly impossible task.


Sooner or Later

_I see nothing in your eyes_

_And the more I see the less I like_

_Is it over yet? In my head_

_I know nothing of your kind_

_And I won't reveal your evil mind_

_Is it over yet? I can't win _-Breathe, Breaking Benjamin

"I'm scared…"

Two pale gray eyes looked up, staring at himself in the mirror. He was leaning against a sink for support, afraid that letting go would cause him to collapse. His breathing was slow and almost painful to him. His usually nice and clean robes were dust covered, from the long hours he had spent in the bathroom with the ghost that inhabited said bathroom. His usual pale skin was even more so pale, giving off a sort of dead impression. His usual slicked back blond hair was falling in front of his face, and every so often he had to remove one hand from the sink and push it out of his way. He had a white-knuckled grip on the sink in front of him. His usual stormy gray eyes just looked dead and dull, like the rest of him.

"I know," The ghost girl said softly. She was floating a few inches above the ground, keeping a short distance between herself and the Slytherin boy. There was very little a ghost like herself could do to comfort him.

"I-" the boy paused, forcing down the sobs. Like the rest of him, his words came out shaky. He would pause every so often just to gather the strength to speak again. This was way more then what Myrtle was use to. She had never seen him this bad off. "I-I don't want to…" again he paused, choking down more sobs, feeling his eyes sting from the tears that were trying to force an escape, wanting to slide freely down his pale cheeks. Slowly, he bowed his head, staring back down at the white sink in front of him, his eyes closed, fighting back the tears. "I don't want to do this…Myrtle I can't do this…"

"Why?" Myrtle spoke the word that had been burning inside her for several long weeks now. "_Why_?" she asked again.

For a moment Draco looked up, staring at her through the cracked mirror hanging on the wall in front of the sink. Even from this view, Myrtle could clearly see the dark circles under his eyes. He had gotten very little sleep in the past two weeks.

"If you don't want to, then _why_ do it, Draco?" Myrtle asked.

"I-" Again, Draco paused only long enough to choke down the sob and wipe tears from his eyes. "I have to…For Father…If I don't I'll disgrace my whole family…If I do-" again he had to pause, but this time it wasn't to keep himself from sobbing. His knee buckled under him, and had he not been holding that sink with his white-knuckled grip, he would've fallen to the ground. His head was spinning, thoughts swimming through his head. He was getting dizzy, and it was from the lack of sleep, lack of food, and a lot of stress that had caused it all. "I can't…"

He felt himself slipping into unconsciousness, or maybe it was consciousness, he just wasn't aware of it. He needed help…He needed it to end. He _wanted_ it to end.

Slowly, Draco released his grip on the sink and had to hold on to the wall beside him to prevent himself from falling. Slowly, he walked toward the wall, and once there he slid down the wall, drawing his knees up to his chest. "I can't do this, Myrtle." he spoke so softly, barely loud enough for the ghost to here.

This wasn't good. The ghost had never seen this boy worked up this much. He was a Slytherin after all; surely he wasn't gong to back out of the deal now. Having spent a few weeks with him already, Myrtle knew enough about him to know he wasn't the type to back away from a challenge. Especially not one given by the Dark Lord himself. "Then don't," she said softly as she floated over to him and sat down next to him. "You don't have to do it…"

"I-I…Have to…" Draco choked out. "For Father…"

"Draco," Myrtle spoke softly, trying to reassure him. "You don't have to…You don't…" she couldn't think of anything else she could say that would help the Slytherin. This was new to her. She was never the one giving out the advice. "Oh please, Draco. Don't do it." she begged.

"I have to…" Draco replied. "You don't know what'll happen if I don't…" it was only after this came out that Draco seemed to realize it as well. He let out another sob, pressing his pale hands to his eyes. "I have to…" he said more to himself. It seemed he had been doing a lot of this. Reassuring himself that he ever gave up then something bad would happen. Something that apparently he though Myrtle wouldn't understand. "For Father…" he repated as he romved his hands from his eyes, he found the room to be exactly the same, though he hadn't expected it to change.

Slowly, the Slytherin stood, using the wall to support himself.

Myrtle looked almost startled as she stood as well, "You can't leave." she said. "I may not be a doctor but I know you'll hurt yourself if you leave now…You need-"

But Draco only waved the rest of her sentence away, being uninterested in what she had to say. Instead, he stepped forward; slowly almost afraid he would once again fall. When this didn't happen though, he took another step, closer and closer toward the door. In the background, he could barely make out Myrtle's now empty threats.

"You'll hurt yourself!" she was calling to him. "And I won't be there to help you!"

Draco turned back to face Myrtle when he reached the door. "Thank you, Myrtle." he said softly. "But I'm fine…"

With this he turned and started making his way out of the bathroom. It was only then at that moment that Draco's head started spinning again. He paused in the doorway, holding onto the door frame to keep himself from falling again. Faster, and faster the room was spinning around him. Off in the distance, he could make out Myrtle's screaming. But this wasn't enough to break him from his trance. He could see the darkness now, closer and closer. His surroundings slowly disappeared as he fell into the darkness, welcoming it, almost as it was welcoming him. Myrtle's screams died away. The world around him was no longer there to comfort him.

There was only one thought that crossed him before he completely fell into the darkness. Only two words that escaped his mouth. "Good-Bye…"

---

Almost as quickly as it had come, the darkness seemed to leave him. It was taking flight, leaving Draco to openly accept the world around him would forever be his home.

Slowly, his pale gray eyes fluttered open, seeing directly above him was a lantern of some sort. The bed he was lying in felt different, not his own. It was only then Draco realized he was within the Hospital Wing. Someone must have heard Myrtle's screams and came to see what had happened. Or perhaps the darkness dropped him off here before it left him for good.

"You're awake," the familiar face of Madam Pomfrey lingered over him, almost as if she was examining him. Draco tried to sit up, only to be pushed back down my Madam Pomfrey, "You're not in any condition to be leaving just yet, Mr. Malfoy." she said sharply. "After over exhausting yourself, and almost starving yourself to death, don't be surprised if you find yourself here for a week."

These were not the words Draco had wanted to hear.

"Let me tell you, Mr. Malfoy, you have at least one person that cares about you enough…" Madam Pomfrey was saying as she reached over on the bedside table for something. "Mourning Myrtle was worried about you…Told her you would be okay and everything." she explained as she handed Draco a cup, "Drink this. It's a sleeping Potion. You'll be able to get some sleep at least." she explained.

Draco took the cup from her, looking down at it almost as if it might be poison. In the Hospital Wing for a week? Some kind of sleeping Potion? It just added onto the amount of stress. He still had to fix the cabinet, get back into the Room or Requirements. There was still so much to do and very little time to do it all in. He needed to leave the Hospital Wing, or he would never have time to finish.

But perhaps, this could be all he needed. Perhaps if he had a few days of peace, where he could clear his head then he wouldn't have to worry about anything for a few days. By the time he was able to leave the Hospital Wing, he would be in perfect condition to be able to finish the cabinet. Perhaps, all he needed was a break of some kind.

"Well drink up," Madam Pomfrey insisted.

Draco took one last look at the cup before swallowing it whole. It tasted almost like sweetened candy, which was another surprise to him.

"Good," Madam Pomfrey took the cup from him, placing it on the table again. "You get some rest now, dear." she said as she turned and walked along the row of beds, toward her office.

Again, Draco felt darkness come over him, but it wasn't the darkness he had witnessed only hours before. This was the darkness that told him he would be fine after a good nights sleep. He could feel himself fall into another unconsciousness, but almost willingly, Draco clung to staying conscious only long enough to utter three words to himself, thee words that might have seemed meaningless to all but two people. It was after all Myrtle that had saved him, gave him a week of peace to recollect his own thoughts. It was three words that no other Slytherin or anyone else would ever hear him say again; it would only mean he had to admit some stupid ghost had helped him. And he wasn't willing to admit that, not just yet. "Thank you, Myrtle."

**A/n: This was my first ever Draco and Myrtle pairing. It was my surprise to my friend, Kay because she opened up this whole new thing for me. I'm starting to pity Draco. Anyways, here you go Kay. Hope you and everyone else reading it likes it.**


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